Meddling with Time
by ejunkie
Summary: An old love and a desire to protect leads to a mess that none could predict. "What if… during those three years the well shut, Kagome… I stole you?" A tale spanning five hundred years written and told in parallel spans of time. ShippoKagome.
1. Where timelines collide

**MEDDLING WITH TIME**

"_What if… during those three years the well shut, Kagome… I stole you?"_

* * *

><p><strong>AN **A brief note of warning: this story will move backwards and forwards through it's own timeline in the beginning liberally, as the 'game' is set (as they say) and introductions are finished. This will settle down as the plot moves forward, and each part gets _longer_. This fic has taken up special place of residence in my heart, and I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing (and illustrating my DA) it!

A lot of these chapters have been written in segments, posted to the iyfic_contest on livejournal. These people are brilliant fun to write with.

**DISCLAIMER**: Inuyasha belongs to the gorgeous Rumiko Takahashi.

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER ONE : Where Timelines Collide.<strong>_

_Where most instances involving time meddling were catalysed by meaningful, proper reasons (Death, mistake) Shippo's guilty love was meagre in comparison. He hoped that with this humble outlook, taking only what he _needed_, and nothing more, fate would grant him this wish._

When it came to _tricks_, it was without doubt that Kitsune's were the gods, _or demons,_ of the trade. Ploys, gambles, magic, games; the legends twisted through them all – but what _immortalised_ these tales, was the playful innocence of these creatures.

It had started with a wedding.

The decorations that littered the clearing around the well were simplistic in the view of their time, but elegant. Even though flowers were a _girls_ thing, a talented Kitsune such as himself could appreciate the beauty provided by the simple theme of red and pink petals, which matched the bride flawlessly. As dearest friend to Kagome, Shippo would accept no less. Aside from that, it was obvious the groom had contributed nothing.

Irritation stirred in his gut, jade eyes narrowing with his disapproval. This event had _meant_ something. It wasn't fair, on _her_. In fact, Kagome had always been unhappy around the _baka_.

His fur bristled with discomfort, an unhappy pout settling across the line of his mouth. Ahead of him, _they_ joined hands, twin smiles meeting sweetly, with simple shyness, before the clatter of beads shook through the air in a flurry of colour, and within the midst of the mess, their lips met, sealing their vows.

Ignoring the distractions that lay all around him – the food, the pretty white cloth that Kagome had brought back from home, the _toys_ – the small Kitsune's teeth worried his lip, unable to shake his unease as his eyes settled on the bride, watching, carefully.

He needed to talk to her.

In a flurry of ginger hair and fur, the kitsune disappeared from the mess table, moving forward towards the departing couple. If he could just catch her before she took this _too far_. "Kagome!"

* * *

><p>"Shippo?"<p>

The taller, _broader, _Kitsune had a small, secretive smile on his lips as he watched the young woman in the confines of his arms, her tentative heat warm and _at home_ beneath him. Apart from the apparent tear strains, that tracked two solitary paths down her delicate cheeks, she was as healthy and perfect as he remembered from his childhood.

"It's so good to see you, Shippo-"

His hand was at her mouth, effectively sealing her lips part way through his name as Kagome glanced up into the taller stature of the Kitsune with startled surprise. At the sudden tension in his features, Kagome's eyes immediately tracked his own, searching the short breadth of the small shrine courtyard for the source of the Kitsune's anxiety; but she couldn't say she was surprised when she noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

Her heart thudded in her chest, in a familiar rhythm of excited stress that brought with it the tantalising reminisces of the feudal era. It had been _so long_ since she had made contact with youkai, or anything from her past, that the peace and serenity of her time had almost killed her.

Reaching up slowly, Kagome tugged the light grip of her kitsune's hand away, a smile appearing shyly despite herself at the worry that marred the sweet, homely features as she took his hand.

He glanced down, a smile breaking the steadily hardening lines of features.

"Sorry, Kagome."

The air around them crackled, as the darkening gaze of her youngster - although he wasn't young any more – focused with sharp intensity to identify the threat. Deep emerald flicked back at the last moment to hers, the old sparkle of mischievousness returned with a ferocity that matched the foxfire licking around the edges of his quivering form.

"Watch me, Kagome. I'm a lot stronger, then when you last saw me. Watch me protect you."

She couldn't say if she felt relieved, or not, at his proclamation.

"Just don't get hurt."


	2. Where timelines collide part two

**MEDDLING WITH TIME**

"_What if… during those three years the well shut, Kagome… I stole you?"_

* * *

><p><strong>AN **A brief note of warning: this story will move backwards and forwards through it's own timeline in the beginning liberally, as the 'game' is set (as they say) and introductions are finished. This will settle down as the plot moves forward, and each part gets _longer_. This fic has taken up special place of residence in my heart, and I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing (and illustrating my DA) it!

These two chapters really should have been labelled the 'prologue'.

**DISCLAIMER**: Inuyasha belongs to the gorgeous Rumiko Takahashi.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER TWO : Where Timelines Collide (part two)<strong>

Catalysts come in all shapes and sizes. Kagome's men were careful around their fragile charge, even if she kept them out of the loop. Works alone, but is also the prelude to my next planned segment after 'unsung hero' (as this story insists on playing within it's own timeline and not going chronologically. X'D). Continuation 'of tricksters and weddings', part of the 'Shippo List'.

_It was becoming obvious to Kagome that men, given the choice, would choose the rash, impulsive, dangerous option, that they wouldn't choose with more forethought. If she had had the choice, she would have made his wish one of happiness, and possibility, instead of reaching for an _impossible_ love. _

Stepping with practised ease past the guards of the village, the smile eased back onto the kitsune's face as he reached the peaceful clearing that housed one of the larger huts of the clearing. It had been over a year since he had returned home.

As he walked into the warm, orange glow of the inner room, the pale face of the woman caught his attention immediately, delicate features strained, but still offering a bright smile in his direction.

"_Inuyasha_." The low word had just enough hint of a growl in them to catch the inu's attention easily. Golden assessed him, gleaning across the young kitsune's rigid posture and the two twitching billows of bouncy orange tails in terse silence, before his head inclined in a sharp jerk towards the entry way. "Outside."

"How did this happen?"

"Kagome says it is a _bug_." Inuyasha's tone was hesitant with the term, but confident enough in Kagome's assessment of the situation. "She didn't tell me she would be back early. I caught her scent by _happy_ accident while sniffing for some _food_. She still won't tell me what she was doing out there. But I trust her enough to_ tell me _when it is right-"

He stopped at a loud retch; both men glancing back immediately to the hut. The pale hanyou's expression strained, the confidence in his posture slipping, before both demons disappeared in a blur of movement, cutting around the corner of their problems to return their charge.

**FOR THE BEST.**

**Unsung hero.**

These segments finally tie together with the next chapter. After this one, I mean. Love you guys. ;u;

_Defensive manoeuvres._

Her pain had kept them all at her bedside throughout the night, her concerted effort to muffle the pain she was obviously in when she finally slipped out of consciousness around moonrise. The scent memory of the metallic tang of blood lingered as if it had seared itself to the back of his throat, renewing the fear that preyed the fringes of his mind. The bleeding had been internal, leaving all of his traditional healing methods at odds. His claws dug into the palms of his hand, revelling in the brief relief of pain to his frustration.

It wasn't enough.

Unable to keep the rising turmoil of emotions that threatened to burst in check, Shippo rose to his feet, claws clattering loudly against the tatami mats on the floor as his rapid pace leapt him into the clean, fresh air. Sinking into a deep crouch, he took the bound onto the support rafters of the building, turning to face the husband. The _husband. _Tired eyes tightened with strain, the dark shadow only glanced cursorily over his entrance, before returning to their consideration of the night sky.

The crouched kitsune made no move to get up or correct his posture, his eyes settling on the hanyou, gaze dark and unreadable. With a heavy sigh, the golden eyes finally flicked to his.

"You didn't notice?"

"She- she said nothing. She hid _It_… well." The soft growl of the inu's response broke at the mention, his hand raising to cover his face once more. The kitsune's anxiety grew, the twitches of the tails turning into a furious auburn blur tinged with the blue of raising foxfire.

"That is all you have to say, you stupid, _stupid_ man? That was _your_ child. You call yourself her _mate_."

Something changed in the man's demeanour, a red tinge bleeding into his eyes. "I _am_ her mate. She came back for me – she came for _me_, Kistune-brat! And don't you _forget_ that."

* * *

><p>"Kagome."<p>

With a small step, a smile weaving it's way onto well-defined features, the tall shadow of the man stepped into the smoky sunlight of midday Tokyo, hiding the smaller woman's face in darkness. The heat of the day made the air heavy and uncomfortable, although he noticed the woman didn't seem to mind; her arms were crossed, her sleeves rolled down, as if trying to cover herself from something. At the sound of her name, she was obviously startled, however, her arms leaping apart, as if remembering the heat. A smile appearing on her face, she glanced towards him with nervous embarrassment, hands subtly wiping beneath her eyes.

Her expression froze when it connected with the light jade of carefully watching eyes, a small grin twitching at his lips despite himself. She seemed to recognise something about him, at least. The cigarette in his mouth burned as he inhaled deeply, letting the smoke snake through his nostrils, twisting curiously in on itself until it had formed the shape of a dreidel. Glossy eyes focussed on the bewitched smoke, widening. Taking her reaction as a sign he was doing well with jogging her memory, with a careful sniff of the air, he let his disguise drop… subtly, revealing one tail, then a second, before the third.

Her shocked, little exclamation of _'god' _sent a thrill of excitement that jolted his heart into twice it's regular speed, before her whisper mouthed the clincher: "...Shippo?"

His smile widened at her recognition, and a flush of happiness skidded his heart before he could stop himself. He couldn't completely forget what he had come here to do, though.

A sad expression softened his features as he took in the recent wet streaks that streamed her face, the glisten of tears still fresh in her eyes. Reconciled with this decision, his hand reached out, placating, a quick step bringing him within touching distance as his eyes searched the familiar gleam of vitality of her own. His voice lowered to almost a whispered husk as he tasted her name once more on his tongue.

"_Kagome_. It's been a long time."

"A long time..?" Her hand reached out softly to grasp his, tugging his body closer, as the whole line of the Kitsune stiffened, her soft gaze however, preventing him from breaking away. With a small smile, he sat beside her, balancing on the edge of the bench tentatively as his eyes searched hers, trying to find a way around this. He had forgotten her intuition skills. He had revealed too much, and it was too soon. This was not good. This would not go to plan.

A look of confusion took over her face, and Shippo half-heartedly attempted to second guess her thought process to it's eventual conclusions, resignation settling hard in his gut as her expression cleared as well, an understanding dawning in eyes that glanced back at the well. Alarm gave her bright eyes life once more as the abruptly damp gaze followed the lines of the old, decrepit thing, before her gaze tore back to his, burning with the unspoken question.

At his silence, her back straightened, her eyes hardening, as her normally softer tones went curt, sending his tails twitching. "Shippo, your past is my future. Please… tell me what happened?" Despite herself though, her voice failed part way through, his mind marking with bitter satisfaction that their emotions were conniving together to reveal their innermost secrets.

The lies on his tongue tasted bitter, cloying in his throat worse than the stink of tobacco. He wasn't perfect - hell, he'd picked up his vice for cigarettes in the eighties and smoked like a chimney – and his nature may have been one of a trickster, but _this_ was a chance he would not leave to fate. The memory of blood, scented but not seen, haunted his senses, the metallic after-taste a brutal kick to his mental process.

"_Kagome_." _Gods_, he loved saying her name. "It's over, Kagome. I'm so sorry."

With the words, an emotional dam seemed to burst within the woman, the weak, but vainly resisting barrier breaking down over the surge of emotions that followed his words. "_Oh gods no, Shippo._" Her knees failed her, and she crumpled forward, falling into strong arms that enclosed her, and held her tightly, his mind frantic as he _wished_ he could crush away those tears.

"It'll be all be ok, Kagome." For the past five hundred years, he had desperately wished it would. His voice roughened, the silk of her hair, _her smell_, stirring long-forgotten emotions in the seat of his belly. His lips slipped finally into one more smile, a _grateful_ one, and the first one to light his face for what felt like centuries.

He _would be_ proud. The fire burned in his heart as his hands wound tighter around her, hands soothing down her back with light touches. That night that would_ not _occur. She would not go back to him, and his stubborn pride and idiocy would prevent him returning to search for her. The smile turned bitter-sweet again. _I never forgot, hanyou._


End file.
